Kolkata Knight Riders commits a 'harakiri' at the auction! Buys Venkatesh Iyer for...

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Kolkata Knight Riders commits a ‘harakiri’ at the auction! Buys Venkatesh Iyer for…

Defending IPL champions, the Kolkata Knight Riders gobbled up at the auction table in the last moment to drain out 23.75 crore! for Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer.

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November 24, 2024 20:49 IST
Kolkata Knight Riders commits a ‘harakiri’ at the auction! Buys Venkatesh Iyer for…
Kolkata Knight Riders commits a ‘harakiri’ at the auction! Buys Venkatesh Iyer for…

New Delhi: Defending IPL champions, the Kolkata Knight Riders gobbled up at the auction table in the last moment to drain out 23.75 crore! for Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer. The left-hand all-rounder was part of a surprise bidding war at the mega auction for the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Abadi Al Johar Arena in Jeddah.

Although the move was highly ambitious by Venky Mysore and the financial heads of KKR, the move did not sit well with the netizens and the fans. Former KKR skipper, Eoin Morgan criticised the move from his former franchise and remarked that the move was a ‘desperate’ one from the franchise.

Furthermore, speaking at the JioCinema, Eoin Morgan remarked:

There’s a lot to like about him – a left-handed batter can bat anywhere in your top five. Obviously, he has been an integral part of the Knight Riders set-up for some time now, and we normally see this sort of supply and demand for the type of player that Venkatesh is in a mini-auction. I didn’t think we’d see it today, but to go for 23.75 is massive over, in my opinion, for the type of player that he is considering. When the likes of KL Rahul only go for 14, you would say two completely different types of players and different accomplishments in many ways…

RCB pushes the pedal for Venky!!

Venkatesh Iyer had a surprising turn of fortunes in the latter half of the IPL mega auction. The southpaw attracted three bidders in the mega auction. Earlier, the Knights faced stiff competition from the Lucknow Super Giants who had emerged as the bidding leaders of this year’s Mega auction.

The ‘race for supremacy’ went on till 7.75 crore, post which LSG bowed down from the race. However, just when the defending champions thought that they had a steal deal for Iyer, Royal Challengers Bangalore decided to enter the bidding war and push the pedal.

RCB pushed KKR to their limits, before they acquired back the all-rounder for INR 23.75 crore, making him the fourth-most expensive player at an auction, and third most at the mega auction in Jeddah.

KKR’s liking for left-handers…

Kolkata spent 29.35 crore at the mega auction so far, roping in just three players. Besides Venkatesh, they bagged two wicketkeeper-batters in Quinton de Kock, for INR 3.60 crore, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, for INR 2 crore. Interestingly, the Knights have shown some early interest in left-handers who have turned out to be game-changers for franchises in the past.

Like Venkatesh, Gurbaz too was part of their squad in the previous season, and they acquired him at his base price. KKR’s captaincy issues will also be reserved with De Kock in the side.

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